RID 2017 Lead Together Conference | July 20-24, 2017

Leadership, Engagement And Development …Together!
A Working Conference of Change Agents

PURPOSE: The purpose of the Lead Together conference is to create a shared opportunity for purpose-driven leaders and practitioners within the RID and Deaf and Interpreter Communities to come together to advance the mission of RID—either through collaboration on strategic planning for the association or through concentrated skills development activities designed to improve interpreting practice. There will be two tracks offered—one is a Leadership track and one an ASL Interpreting Skills Development track.

VISION: The RID Board of Directors vision for the 2017 Lead Together conference is to purposefully engage RID members and community stakeholders in an inclusive environment where respect, civility, and results-driven collaboration are modeled to advance our common goals and values. We expect all who choose to participate onsite at the Lead Together conference to give the best we have to offer so we can harness our common desire for a stronger and more unified RID, dedicated to fostering the highest degree of linguistic access for the Deaf Community possible. The recommendations that come out of the work of leadership track participants at the Lead Together conference will be used to define the 2018-2022 RID Strategic Plan.

ENGAGEMENT WITHIN THE DEAF AND INTERPRETER COMMUNITIES: The engagement process will begin months before the actual conference, in order to garner the greatest degree of member perspective possible. In the fall of 2016 RID Affiliate Chapters, Councils, Member Sections and Committees will be asked to engage in a discussion of key issues facing RID and the field of interpreting. The insight gained from these discussions will contribute to the development of a national survey of members who will be asked to prioritize key issues facing RID and our field. As well, other relevant documents, like the March 2015 RID Organizational Assessment conducted by TSNE and the 2016 Trends Report from the National Interpreter Education Center [NIEC] will be considered for sources of key issues to incorporate into the survey. The results of the survey will be used to determine the topics addressed during the LEAD Together conference. In addition, plenary, panel and forum discussion occurring during the Lead Together conference will be lived streamed and available to a wide audience. This access to conference activities can be used to create local engagement around the topics that will be addressed.